Rare Item
by Fatalyst
Summary: Kaito Shion is a lonely, overworked secondary school teacher whose only outlet is an online game. What will he do when he discovers that his online girlfriend is actually his rebellious, trouble-making student?
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Prologue~  
~All I Want Is Ice Cream~_

* * *

After a long morning pacing around arms outstretched, it was nice to have a seat and give his muscles some time to relax while he wiped chalk dust from underneath his fingernails. It was already late spring and summer was fast approaching. June was right around the corner. With the students growing restless, it seemed that an era had gone by from January to May, and Kaito Shion agreed with himself that the year simply could not go by any faster.

The day had already taken a down turn at the announcement of the upcoming field trip. Although he hadn't meant to, Kaito had included with the day's handouts the flyer he had intended to distribute at the end of class. And so, for two hours they had done nothing but chatter endlessly about this and that and whatever other insignificant blah-blah they felt the need to draw attention to. Talk about unproductive. He still had to make up for the last of the hours they had lost over the argument of BUS SEATING of all things.

And now, after a long morning spent straining his voice to be heard over uncooperative students, he was going to bury his anguish in delicious ice cream. Humming cheerfully to himself, he stooped down under his desk and opened the mini freezer he stowed, asking himself, "What flavor should I have today?" While in anticipatory delight, a young girl sitting in the front row spotted a bee sailing through the open window.

* * *

"UWAH! WHOA! A BEE! A BEE!"

"W-WHAT? WHERE? WHERE?"

"KILL IIIIIT! I'M SCARED OF BEES!"

"I'M ALLERGIC TO BEES FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!"

"Uoh!" The book came crashing hard at the offending insect, batting it to the side some ways. Everyone in the room slid into the opposite most corner. But the buzzing menace was far from finished. It came around a table leg and zoomed straight at the enemy.

There was barely any margin to pay for that simple mistake. His opponent had, in the time it had taken for him to reorient himself, picked up a second book. For that he had nearly been crushed. With a rebel yell drowned out by the roaring of his wings the bee rolled away from a pre-emptive swipe and swung up to the target's face. Feet! Inches! Centimeters! And then—

"KAMIKAZE~!"

Ducking to evade, the girl took advantage of the bee's carelessness and vaulted off of a desk, books in both hands. From her throat tore a proud and wrathful howl. It was an honorable loss, the bee reflected happily, closing its eyes and flying straight ahead as fast as its wings would take it. Pulling her left arm back and bracing herself to land on the heavy desk in front of her, the victorious beast struck with all of her might.

SMACK!

* * *

Crisp, clean and clear against in his face like a meteor, Kaito fell to the floor in silence. There was a great thud as his falling body upturned his rolling chair. Everyone was breathing heavily.

"Is it... dead...?"

Kaito's hand shot up into the air, shocking the students into hysteria, clasped the edge of the table and plied the rest of himself up off of the floor. On his swollen red face was an indistinguishable lump, the fallen bee. He felt cold, and realized immediately that he was covered in chocolate frozen yogurt. His temple throbbed angrily. A low growl reverberated throughout the room as he turned his attention to the young girl wielding an emergency bee shield labeled "Poems for the Soul" in her right hand.

"Ka~..."

Sweat rolled down Teto's face. Her red twin pig tails flattened apologetically. "C-crap..."

"KASANEEEEEEE~!"


	2. 0:0

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Chapter Zero Start~  
~All I Want Is To See You~_

* * *

Without doubt one of the things he hated doing most was staying late after school. It was just fortunate that he was never needed at the end of a day. But when it came to dealing with his own students, that was another matter entirely. He scratched his head irately. "Why do I have to stay behind and babysit this brat?"

Teto Kasane, short, small, pig tailed redhead and amber eyes, sulked. "Then let me go already~"

"No!" Kaito would not have it. As much as he wanted to go home, he wanted Teto to suffer and stay behind. His anger outweight his priorities right now. But he couldn't very well leave Teto alone in the room, or who knew what would transpire in her isolation? He vaguely imagined coming into the room and being assaulted with a barrage of heavy books.

"You're imagining something, aren't you?"

"!" Teto's voice shocked him away from his morbid fantasy.

"You perv~"

"That's enough out of you! Or do I need to keep you here longer?" He flashed genuine anger out of his eyes. Teto bit tongue to keep quiet. "Better..." Kaito sighed and checked his watch, even though he was perfectly aware that there was a giant clock beside him. He didn't like that clock very much.

It was getting late and he was running out of paperwork to do. Teto had tried, unsuccessfully, to sleep several times. Each time he was ready with a book to slam, hard, on his desk. Another time, while she was pretending to do her homework, he caught her sketching a caricature of his working form chained to a desk, the clock a giant eye staring down at him, the blackboard a furnace of black flames, ready to consume him. Angered, her promised her that he would cherish it in his confiscation box and a reminder to make her suffer for as long as she was under his control. He REALLY didn't like that clock.

At last that time came around, and not a moment too soon. Together they counted the seconds down to zero. And not a moment too soon. Kaito didn't need to tell Teto everything. They both hurried out of the classroom, fighting over go could step out first, and walked impatiently through the empty halls, indignantly ignoring each other.

He had to hurry. If he didn't get home in fifteen minutes it would start without him. She would probably be waiting for him there. He didn't want to keep his girlfriend waiting. And it was thanks to a certain brat that he wouldn't have to time to shop around for what he needed either, much less warm up. Yes. The faster he ran, the sooner he could get home. Forget this! Apparently, Teto had the same idea. They were sprinting now, neither caring about the rules.

"You shouldn't run in the halls, Kasane!"

"You're one to talk, sensei!"

"I've got something important to do!"

"Well! Aren't you special?"

They broke through the double doors and landed outside, blinded by the brilliant sun ahead. Kaito was gasping for breath. He still wanted to run, but couldn't see anything. His field of vision was turning deep red. "_Oh..._"

It was the most beautiful sunset he had ever seen. Nestled between two large ginko trees, the smoldering fireball cast a crimson blanket over the sky. Stained with free, floating white clouds, Kaito had the ethereal sensation of being forcibly removed from his own body. His heart skipped a beat.

_If only you could see this, Natsume..._

Standing beside him, just as awestruck, Teto muttered something indistinct. "Tch! Aren't you so carefree?" Kaito pushed his glasses up to his bridge and took off at a run, leaving Teto behind. She snapped out of her trance and ran in the opposite direction, cursing Kaito at the top of her lungs.

He didn't care. "Natsume!" he cried. "Natsume, I'm coming! Don't start without me!"


	3. 0:1

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The following content is the intellectual property of the  
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries  
as well as any participating organizations that own  
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The  
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of  
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with  
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

**WARNING:  
**The following content is rated M for Mature, and may  
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios  
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of  
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is  
purely coincidental.

* * *

_~Chapter Zero Continued~  
~All I Want Is To See You~_

* * *

"That stupid, stupid sensei! He doesn't know anything! If I'm late on his behalf I'll shove a baguette up his ass tomorrow morning!"

Teto pedaled all the harder for it. The image of her teacher screaming face down on the ground with his butt in the air as she crammed a stale loaf of bread pervaded her thoughts. She chortled maniacally as her bike careened down a hill. "It'll be like that!" she sang, "And then I'll hang his underwear on it like a flag!"

CRASH!

"WAAAAAAH!" She smashed into something and sailed into the air, landing hard on her bottom and pounding the ground with her tailbone. "IITETETETETETE~!" Pulling herself up weakly, turned around to see what she had run into.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

Lying motionless on the ground, a pool of blood gathering by his head was a young boy. Interestingly enough, his butt stuck up in the air in a way not unlike her moments-ago daydream of vengeance. "Stupid, forget about that!" she scolded herself, staggering over to the boy and rolling him over.

"Hey, you're alive, aren't you, kid? Hey, kid?" He wasn't moving. "W-what do I do~? I think he's dead!" Looking left and right frantically, Teto saw that she was all alone in the street. Foam was rising out of the boy's mouth.

"Check his vital signs! His pulse!" she squeezed his wrist tightly and tried desperately to feel for the faintest movement or twitch. But there was absolutely nothing there. "T-then~! His breath! If he's breathing he's alive, right?" But she saw that his chest wasn't moving either.

"Wake up!" she slapped him several times. "I'm not Kira! I'm not Kira! Please, don't be dead! Hey! I'll take you to the clinic! It's close! Ungh!"

With all of her strength, she heaved the boy's limp body onto the back of her bike and got back on unsteadily. Then she turned around and gazed miserably at the long uphill road she had just come back down and slapped herself. "Come on, Teto! Lives are at stake! GO!"

The bike moved slowly up the slope. Teto grunted and strained at the pedals, her knuckles white from gripping the handlebars for leverage. A pair of female pedestrians on the other side of the street walking in the same direction giggled.

"Oh my, how cute!"

"But, isn't it supposed to be the other way around~?"

"SCREW THIS!" Teto scooped her passenger onto her back and started climbing the mountain on foot. "Y-you're heavy you stupid dead kid!"

"Look! She's she's piggybacking her boyfriend~!"

"Oh my, that sounds so dirty!"

"THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS HELP ME!"

Halfway up, she was out of breath. This would be so much easier on a bike, she thought. But then again, she was carrying a dead boy on her back. "AGH~! WHY AM I BEING SO NONCHALANT ABOUT THIS?"

All this because she had been held back earlier this afternoon. "This is all his fault! That stupid, stupid sensei! When I get out of jail I'm going to force a baguette up your ass!"

Staggering up the steps of the hospital she shrieked, "WHY ARE THERE SO MANY STEPS FOR A STUPID HEALTH CLINIC?" The doors didn't open automatically either. She hurried into the empty lobby. "WHY ISN'T ANYBODY HERE?"

"Can I help you?" a red-headed nurse appeared behind the reception window. Teto could tell she was a nurse because her dress was pink. She looked like those nurses on television, with her giant rack and a round white patch with a red cross on her nurse cap.

"WHY ARE YOU ACTING SO CALM WHEN THERE'S A DEAD BOY ON MY BACK?"

"Oh..."

The nurse disappeared. Teto's eyes were livid. This was retarded! Nothing, absolutely nothing was going right today! And now this!

"She's calling the cops!" Teto sobbed. "I'm gonna go to jail and get raped by a transexual!"

"Calm down." The nurse re-emerged from a door in the hallway and approached the hysteric schoolgirl. "He's not dead," she said, taking the boy from Teto's back.

"R-really?" Teto felt relief washing over her guilt. "S-so he's a—"

The nurse struck the dead boy in his gut with her knee and fell on the ground, coughing violently. Teto gasped.

"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT IF HE'S NOT DEAD?"

The nurse folded her arms crossly and kicked the coughing boy. "Hey, you, stop scaring spazzy schoolgirls." She propped a cigarette between her lips and lit it.

"WHY ARE YOU SMOKING IN A HEALTH CLINIC?" SMACK!

Teto pinched her nose, crying. "T-that really hurt~..."

"It's because you're noisy," the nurse explained savagely, withdrawing a fan which he had produced from her cleavage. "This boy's anemic. He's prone to fainting spells."

_Not having a pulse is a fainting spell?_ Teto had a headache. The boy she'd carried up here stood up, clutching his head and stomach.

"Oww~ Wha...?"

"You fainted again, stupid. This girl freaked out and thought she killed you." The nurse slapped him the way Teto had done earlier. "You didn't take your medicine again, today, eh?"

"S-sorry, Sakine-sama..." He turned his hair obscured face to Teto, a slight smile visible beneath his tangled black locks. "B-but you know, my house was right in front of where you hit me."

Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid! This day could probably get worse, and Teto didn't want to imagine what else could happen. Limping out the door, walked down the handicap ramp and stood at the top of the...

"_Handicap ramp_..." she murmured, palming her face.

Looking down, Teto was fortunate enough that her bike was still lying on the ground where she had left it.

* * *

With the sun sinking low beyond the horizon, an emotionally battered Teto arrived at _Bakaku_, her regular net cafe. With a sullen expression she looked at the low round building apprehensively. It was already pretty late...

The door bell jingled as she stepped inside. "Kasane-chan~!" A sweet, milky voice floated from behind a large monitor at the front desk—so large that it acted as the equivalent of a wall. "You're here pretty late today, aren't you? Was it cause' of your boyfriend? Uhuu~ Children these days."

"Ahah... I got a little held up back there. Are there any cubicles open?" _Fingers crossed..._

"Uhuu~ You're in luck, Kasane-chan." Luka Megurine, the owner, peered around the edge of the display. "It's over there at the end." She pointed with her eyes, and as Luka receded slowly into her chair, Teto smiled weakly and journeyed to the back.

_He's gonna be mad_, she thought. _He's gonna be really, really mad at me. Oh~! Stupid, stupid sensei~!_

Logging into her favorite game, she was greeted with a notice which read: _Due increased server backflow during an ongoing event, logging in has been temporarily restricted. Please come back later._

"C-crap..." Teto slumped over her desk and sighed.


End file.
